Great and easy ideas for no-carve pumpkins for Halloween

Last year I made a bazillion pumpkins with the kids. I've decided that until they are older, all pumpkin Jack O' Lantern creations are going to be no-carve, and through the beast that is Pinterest I found a ton of ways to make fun and awesome pumpkins that don't involve combining sharp utensils with young children. I'm sharing all the ideas that turned-out the best here.

Extra points for these pumpkin ideas: the ones that involve covering the pumpkin in glue or tape also act as an excellent animal deterrent.

If you are going to try one of the ideas that doesn't have full pumpkin glue coverage, first coat the pumpkin in hair-spray or something similar to keep the wildlife away.

The Googly-Eye Pumpkin

I love this project because even the littlest kids can peel and stick the eyes on the pumpkin, and it turns out perfectly silly.


The Glow in the Dark Pumpkin

This project is so easy, and it's perfect for older kids and tweens who love Duck Tape. All you do is cover the pumpkin with overlapping pieces of Duck Tape. We used a mini pumpkin and glow in the dark tape, 'cause everything glow in the dark is cool, but it would also look fantastic if used any other style of tape, too.


The Glow in the Dark Stars Pumpkin

Do you have a few of those glow in the dark stars leftover from decorating a kid's room? They're perfect for decorating a pumpkin! Just affix with glue dots and you'll be able to remove them easily from the pumpkin when the holiday is over.


The Glitter Pumpkin

I wrote instructions for how to make this glitter pumpkin last year, for full instructions click here.

One last note: I created all of these projects with real, live pumpkins but I think they would all work as well - possibly even better - with a funkin*.

* If you don't know what a funkin is, that's probably for the best. Just be happy and don't Google it.

Do you have any no carve pumpkin ideas? I'm always looking for more ways to festoon these celebratory squashes for the holidays!

This is the second post in my week of Halloween, for all the posts click here.

A Halloween Tale: Trick or Treating in Suburbia

This story is a few years old and was published in a similar version here back in 2008.

I remember our first time taking the kids trick or treating in suburbia as if it happened yesterday.

We had just moved to suburban Westchester County from New York City, and our daughters (Maggie, age five and Kay, age three) were beyond excited to go "real" trick or treating for the first time.

We hadn't met many of the neighbors yet, so the only house on our must-visit list was Franklin's, whose mom was always really friendly and nice and had told the girls to be sure and come by that night.

As soon as Daddy got home from work, it was time to hit the mean streets of our neighborhood for some trick or treating. We walked up our block stopping at each of our houses, and then turned to go down the opposite side. As we got closer and closer to the house where Franklin lived the kids got more and more excited, "Daddy! You finally get to meet Franklin! Hurry!"

We got to Franklin's house, the nice lady opened the door and said hi, and we then had a conversation that went like this and has become the stuff of family jokes forevermore:

Franklin's Mom: Hi everyone! So great to see you guys!

Me: Hi! Maggie and Kay insisted that the house they wanted to go to the most was Franklin's!

Franklin's Mom: Isn't that sweet! I don't know where Franklin is right now, or I'd have him come say hello... honey (yells to husband) do you know where Franklin is?

Franklin's Dad: I'm not sure, I think he might have gone up the street...

Maggie/Kay Dad, under his breath: Who doesn't know where their five-year-old is? And they don't even know if he might have gone up the street?

Maggie/Kay Dad out loud: Hi, I'm Mike. Nice to meet you. I've heard so much about Franklin. So Franklin and Maggie are in the same class at school?

Laughter.

More Laughter.

Doubled-over laughter.
 

Maggie and Kay: Daddy!!!!! Franklin's a cat!!!!!
 

Maggie/Kay Dad: Oh.
 

And even now, every time the kids mention a new friend, Mike gets a very serious look on his face, narrows his eyes and asks them, "And is this new friend A CAT?"

Happy Halloween! Do you have a Franklin tale?

This is the first in my Halloween Week series. Tomorrow I'm sharing easy Halloween crafts.